Laurence Housman
Laurence Housman ( ; 18 July 1865 - 20 February 1959)1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica gives his birthdate as June 18, 1867. was an English poet, playwright, prose writer, and illustrator. Life Youth Laurence Housman was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, to a family of seven children that included the poet A.E. Housman and the writer Clemence Housman. In 1871 his mother died, and his father remarried, to a cousin. After education at Bromsgrove School, he went with his sister Clemence to study art at the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. Illustrating He first worked as a book illustrator with London publishers, illustrating such works as George Meredith's Jump to Glory Jane (1892), Jonas Lie's Weird Tales (1892), Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market (1893), Jane Barlow's The End of Elfintown (1894) and his sister's Werewolf (1896) in an intricate Art Nouveau style. During this period, he also wrote and published several volumes of poetry and a number of hymns and carols.Examples are the hymns The Holy Innocents and Father eternal, ruler of creation. Writing When his eyesight began to fail, he turned more and more to writing. He worked as art critic for the Manchester Guardian from 1895 to 1907, and began writing for the stage in the same period.Laurence Housman 1865-1959, Laurence Housman papers, Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections, Web, July 22, 2012. Housman's first literary success came with the novel An Englishwoman's Love-letters (1900), published anonymously. He then turned to drama with Bethlehem (1902) and was to become best known and remembered as a playwright. His other dramatic works include Angels and Ministers (1921), Little Plays of St. Francis (1922) and Victoria Regina (1934) which was even staged on Broadway. Housman's play, Pains and Penalties, about Queen Caroline, was produced by Edith Craig and the Pioneer Players.Cockin, Katharine. Women and Theatre in the Age of Suffrage: The Pioneer Players 1911-25, Palgrave (2001) Some of Housman's plays caused scandals because of depiction of biblical characters and living members of the Royal House on stage, and many of them were only played privately until the subsequent relaxation of theatrical censorship. In 1937 the Lord Chamberlain ruled that no British sovereign may be portrayed on the stage until 100 years after his or her accession. For this reason, Victoria Regina could not be staged until the centenary of Queen Victoria's accession, 20 June 1937. This was a Sunday, so the premiere took place the next day.All the Best People ...: The Pick of Peterborough 1929-1945, George Allen & Unwin, 1981; p. 139 Housman also wrote children's fairy tales such as A Farm in Fairyland (1894) and fantasy stories with Christian undertones for adults, such as All-Fellows (1896), The Cloak of Friendship (1905), and Gods and Their Makers (1897). "Housman, Laurence" in Stableford, Brian (2005). The A to Z of Fantasy Literature (Scarecrow Press, 2005) (p.205). A prolific writer with around a hundred published works to his name, his output eventually covered all kinds of literature from socialist and pacifist pamphlets to children's stories. He wrote an autobiography, The Unexpected Years (1937), which, despite his record of controversial writing, said little about his homosexuality. He also edited his brother's posthumous poems. Activism Housman held what for the time were controversial political views. He was a committed socialist and pacifist and founded the Men's League for Women's Suffrage with Henry Nevinson and Henry Brailsford in 1907. He was also a member of the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology and the Order of Chaeronea. In 1909, Laurence, with his sister Clemence founded the Suffrage Atelier, an arts and crafts society who worked closely with the Women's Social and Political Union and Women's Freedom League. They encouraged non-professional artists to submit work, and paid them a small percentage of the profits.http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/FSB.html Later life Housman lived his last 35 years with his sister in Street, Somerset. Recognition Housmans Bookshop In 1945 he opened Housmans Bookshop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, founded in his honour by the Peace Pledge Union, of which he was a sponsor. In 1959, shortly after his death, the shop moved to 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, where it is still a prime source of literature on pacifism and other radical approaches to living.Tom Willis and Emily Johns, "The man who made it all possible" Peace News #2516 http://www.peacenews.info/issues/2516/25160302.html Publications Except as noted, this bibliographic detail is taken from The Golden Sovereign published by Jonathan Cape in 1937 in the UK. * Victoria Regina (Play) * Little Plays of St.Francis * Prunella (Play, with Harley Granville-Barker) * Angels and Ministers (Play) * Echo De Paris (Play) * The Chinese Lantern (Play) * Ye fearful Saints (Play) * Cornered Poets (Play) * Palace Scenes (Play) * Pains and Penalties (Play) * Trimblerigg (Satire) * Life of HRH The Duke of Flamborough (Satire) * The New Child's Guide to Knowledge (Verse) * Moonshine and Clover (Fairy Story) * A Doorway in Fairyland (Fairy Story) * Turn Again Tales (Fairy Stories) * What O'Clock Tales (Fairy Stories) * Gods and Their Makers (Novel and Story) * All-fellows and the Cloak of Friendship (Novel and Story) * The Sheepfold (Novel and Story) * King John of Jungalo (Fiction) * The Love Concealed (Poem) * Green Arras (Poetry) * The Unexpected Years (Autobiography) * The Golden Sovereign (Fiction)A fictional work about the period of Queen Victoria. First published in 1937 by Jonathan Cape UK. * Stories from the Arabian nights (Retelling)Missing from the listing in The Golden Sovereign. See The Internet Archive for more information. * A Thing to be Explained (Fairy Story)Missing from the bibliography in The Golden Sovereign. The British Library shows the publication date as 1926. *Edward FitzGerald, preface in: Fitzgerald, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, followed by Euphranor, a dialogue on youth, and Salaman and Absal, an allegory translated from the Persian of Jami. Collins, London & Glasgow 1953 and often (last ed.: Wildside Press, Rockville MD 2008 ISBN 1-4344-7914-5 pp. 15 - 24 * Arthur Boyd Houghton (Collection of art by Arthur Boyd Houghton) See also * List of British poets References External links ;Poems * Laurence Housman in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse: "The Continuing City," "The Mystery of the Incarnation," "Love, the Tempter," "A Prayer for the Healing of the Wounds of Christ" ;Books * UNCG American Publishers' Trade Bindings: Laurence Housman ;About * Laurence Housman at Spartacus Educational. * Laurence Housman: An Overview at the Victorian Web. * Laurence Housman 1865-1959 at Hymntime. * Laurence Housman at Housmans.com. ;Etc. * Laurence Housman papers at Bryn Mawr. Category:1865 births Category:1959 deaths Category:People from Bromsgrove Category:People from Street, Somerset Category:English suffragists Category:English illustrators Category:Art Nouveau Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:English socialists Category:British pacifists Category:English pacifists Category:English tax resisters Category:English fantasy writers Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art Category:People educated at Bromsgrove School Category:LGBT writers from England Category:20th-century poets Category:English poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets